1. Field of the Invention
Liquid iron is transported in torpedoes on railways or roadways at a steelworks from one work station to another, e.g. from an iron making furnace to a steel making furnace. From time to time there are hold-ups and it is not economic to keep the metal liquid in the container until it can be accepted at the receiving station. It is usual to move the torpedo to an open area called a pond and to pour the liquid metal from the torpedo into the pond where it solidifies; the solid metal is later broken up, recovered and remelted when required or sold to third parties. When the metal is poured into the pond it will oxidise on exposure to the air and this creates vast quantities of fume, mainly iron oxide, which is environmentally unacceptable. It is one object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus useful in the pouring of molten metal so that this problem is reduced or eliminated.
We have analysed the causes of the evolution of the fume and have established that the main factor is the splashing which takes place when the liquid metal is poured. We have discovered that if the molten metal is poured into a receiver as indicated herein such fume as is evolved may be removed via a hood extraction system or where the suppression is sufficiently good a hood system can be dispensed with.